"Tenchi Saga 5: Dark Princess-Part One"
by: frogboy@tokyo-3.com
c2001

	"They're well out of range, lieutenant," a female voice sounded as a woman 
stared at a radar, "but I'm not reading any distress signals coded in their 
vicinity, so I'd suppose that their craft is still at full armor."
"Do you think we should send someone in to check on them, ma'am?" a man was 
sorting papers behind them.
"No," the woman spoke sternly, "we need all the resources we can have in our 
battles with earth."
"That is true," he responded, "I will go check on the conditions of the current 
affair."
"You girls had better keep my Toshimi safe," the woman spoke to herself as she 
rose from affront her console and walked slowly into another room.
"How are they?" a man asked upon the female colonel's entrance.
"They're still in good shape, but they've drifted out of our sensors," she 
responded.
"Well, you are needed in the 'tactical operatives' room, so make haste."
"Yes sir," she answered walking into a long hallway.  As she walked, she was 
passed by Taolin.
"Ma'am," he spoke, "how are we this fine morning?"
"I'm not doing so hot."
"That's too bad," Taolin spoke with an eerily unconcerned tone to his voice.
"How are you, Taolin?"
"I'm doing about as fine as anyone who's just been demoted to a rank beneath one 
of their previous subordinates."
"Taolin, you don't talk like that to a superior," she taunted as she continued 
walking.
"Just remember that he's out there," Taolin yelled back at her as she walked 
further down the hall, "and he is no stronger than anyone else."
	"Well, I'm off," Tenchi grabbed several books and headed out the door to 
board his car along with his father.
"Have a nice time, Tenchi," Ryoko's voice chimed in from behind.
"Now, Ryoko, you know that is mine, so you might as well return it, now," Aeka's 
voice was faintly heard from within the house.  With a sigh, Tenchi closed the 
door and leapt into his father's vehicle.
"Ryoko," Aeka spoke, "you will give that back to me, won't you?"
"Oh, sure," Ryoko grinned evilly as she taunted the princess, "after I show it 
to Tenchi."
"You don't know?" Aeka whispered to Ryoko, "Tenchi left for his aunt's and won't 
be back for a few days."
"Why?" Ryoko asked.
"I'm not sure."
The two girls calmed down a bit, and Ryoko gave Aeka's sealed box back to her.  
Its contents were still unknown to anyone aside from the Juraian herself.  
Suddenly, the pink-haired goddess emerged from her subspace laboratory with a 
smirk spanning her face, "Phase one, complete."
Washu released a sigh of exhaustion and threw herself onto the couch.  She 
lifted the remote control and turned the television on.  Aeka and Ryoko walked 
over to sit down beside the scientist.
"...and, despite their intentions, the plant's extra outlets lowered profit by 
twenty percent," a television announcer said in a monotonously perky voice, "In 
other news, three Galaxy Police officers were lost in an abandoned sector of 
space today.  They were positioned on Earth, after somehow eluding our soldiers 
capture, and left yesterday evening.  Earth officials are afraid that the three 
detectives are still alive, and using their cover to conspire against Earth.  
More news at seven."
"Hello, girls," Kai walked out of his laboratory and into the main room with the 
others.
"Hello, Kai," Washu replied.
"Did you hear that, Washu-chan?" Aeka pointed toward the television.
"Hear what?" Washu asked.
"Three galaxy policepersons were missing in a derelict sector of space."
"Do you think it could be...?"
"You never know, Washu."
"That Mihoshi.  Always causing problems."
Across the room were a few men, paying very little attention to the crew.  The 
men were working on rebuilding the broken portion of the house.  Oakiaru, 
Toshimi's old ship, had already been renovated, and was probably being recycled 
to use as an Earth vessel.  It was rather noisy behind them, but not so 
boisterous as to drown out conversation.  Kai seated himself aside Washu.
"So," Kai smiled, "How is your, uh, thing going?"
"It's going pretty well.  The primary ova are done with, so I can continue with 
the conception stage of the creature," Washu watched an advertisement on the 
television for toothpaste.
"What will this become, Washu-chan?  What is it you are trying to accomplish?" 
Kai interrogated.
"Resurrection, Kai.  I'd rather not talk any more of it."
Kai stared, bewildered toward Washu, who stared blankly at the TV.  Kai's vision 
turned toward the television as well.
"Hello, everyone," Akira stumbled down from a higher floor and joined the group, 
"what are you guys up to?"
"Not much, just watching television," replied Ryoko, motioning toward a vacant 
seat at the couch.  Akira sat down upon the couch and began watching the 
television.
	"Foolish children," a voice rumbled through an endless plane of emptiness, 
"when fighting a demigod, one must make perfectly certain that they are of the 
same power.  Your little 'savior' did little more than prove the truth of my 
power to me.  I credit Tsunami for his strength."
"Wha... what are you talking about?" Kiyone's voice stuttered as it echoed 
through the ethereal darkness.
"Tenchi... he is nothing, but a tool to be used by the gods," the voice 
returned.  Suddenly, Kiyone and Mihoshi appeared to be floating in this plane of 
pure black.  They were undressed and had an unearthly glow surrounding them.
"Tenchi... what do you want with him?" Mihoshi's voice pierced the silent void, 
but her body did not move with her speech.
"He has the strength to be a formidable tool of mine.  I must simply learn how 
to use my powers," the voice shot through the emptiness again, "besides, his 
presence is close to my greatest rival, Washu."
"Why are you against Washu?" Toshimi's voice entered the vacant cosmos.
"Washu was not only my greatest possession, but apparently, she is my only 
competitor in the Great War."
"I don't understand," Kiyone whispered sheepishly into the nothingness.
"You never will.  Just let your death come as no surprise, for you will protect 
Tenchi until the end.  That is evident to me."
"I just recently met him," Kiyone spoke, "but he is such a great person, that 
whomever you are, and whatever tricks you have to play will be trivial compared 
to my passion for the fight."
"Yeah," Mihoshi called out, "We'll kick your butt!"
Toshimi appeared with them in the void, nude, and bearing an odd glow, just as 
his fellow policepersons did.  He contemplated about Tenchi for a moment before 
deciding that this boy was worth protecting, "This battle is over with already.  
We'll win, man.  You'd be better off forfeiting the game now, before I really 
have to whip you."
"Ha, ha, ha, ha," the voice laughed incessantly, "mortal weapons cannot affect 
me.  I will not even need to try to win.  This battle is decided.  You lose."
The three Galaxy Police Detectives fell from a large hole in the ceiling of an 
archaic palace, down a waterfall, and into a large pool, opening up into space.  
They had recalled being here before.  Now, however, the water was freezing cold 
and strangely painful.  They all dragged their nudity out of the pool and laid 
themselves onto the side.  They were bleeding slightly, but did not appear to 
have any lacerations.  Kiyone glanced over at Mihoshi, who was breathing 
heavily, allowing her breasts to heave to and fro affront the teal-haired 
woman's sight.  Kiyone averted her eyes, and turned onto her stomach, to prevent 
from exposing her nakedness.  Toshimi guarded his nude bits using both hands 
crossed in front of his genitalia.  Mihoshi simply lay there, allowing herself 
to accumulate her thoughts.
"Is everyone alright?" Kiyone asked, speaking with a strain in her throat.
"Yeah," replied Mihoshi and Toshimi in unison.  Immediately after speaking, the 
two of them spoke in unison again, "Jinx!  You owe me a Coke."
The two continued their shadowed talking with various continual phrases that 
were rather trite and irritating, until Kiyone could no longer withstand their 
annoyance, "Ok, you two, let's get back to Headquarters and check in.  Then we 
can have the whole fleet out here, ready to fight."
Mihoshi leapt to her feet and walked toward the ship, guarding her lack of 
clothing, "Ok, sounds like a good idea.  Let me get dressed, first."
Toshimi stared blankly at Kiyone's smooth back for a few seconds.  There was a 
deep tan line across her back, but it didn't affect her either way.  Kiyone's 
face was flushed red, as it was apparent that she was freezing.
"What are you looking at?" Kiyone spoke, disturbing Toshimi's intent evaluation 
of her body.
"I was just... well... you are a very well-built policewoman," Toshimi blushed 
as well, but he wasn't at all cold, "...and I assumed that you'd be a far higher 
rank than me."
"Well, I was once," Kiyone spoke with a hesitance to her voice, "but a few 
mistakes led me to partnership with Mihoshi.  I'd known her from before.  Why, 
once, we were both very high ranked.  Stress brought us down to the level we're 
at."
"That's sad.  I never really wanted to join, so I'm not that experienced at 
this."
"Why'd you join Galaxy Police, then?"
"My father worked as a council member of Jurai for a while and thought that it'd 
be a disgrace not to have his son protect the Juraians.  It doesn't matter now, 
though... he's dead."
"That's sad.  My father is somewhere out there, but I'm not sure where he is any 
more.  My mother sent me off with her last wish, and that was the last time I 
saw anyone from my family."
"You've been through a lot more than I have, so I'm sure whining about my own 
petty problems would be worthless about now."
"That's not true, Toshimi.  Anyone who has experienced pain is worth listening 
to, in my book."
"I just don't want to talk about it, that's all."
"All yours," Mihoshi was standing behind Kiyone, but there was no way to be 
certain of how long she'd been standing there.  Kiyone rose to her feet, 
covering her body.  Toshimi politely looked the opposite direction as Kiyone 
walked toward the ship.
"Rock, Paper, Scissors?" asked Toshimi as if it were a valid question.
"Sure," replied Mihoshi as she held her first choice behind her back-a pair of 
scissors.  Toshimi played rock, winning the first match simply by the whims of 
chance.
"I'm good at this game," Toshimi remarked, unaware that the average rock-paper-
scissors player could not have any advantage over their opponents in any way, 
"I've developed a strategy."
Mihoshi giggled and continued playing in the large, hovering ancient ship until 
Kiyone returned to join them.  Quickly, Toshimi leapt up to dress himself.
"Hey, Mihoshi," Kiyone smiled, "How are you doing?"
"I'm fine, but this whole place is really creepy," Mihoshi said uneasily, "I'm 
afraid something is going to happen to us here."
"Well, it's hard to say.  That voice from the void, I think I know who it is."
"It's Kagato, Kiyone.  I'm sure of it."
"Kagato, who's he?" Toshimi interrupted.
"You call yourself a Galaxy Policeman, and you don't know who Kagato was?" 
Kiyone shook her head, piteously.
"Tenchi and Ryoko and Aeka and me were all in this ship, and we flew through 
really fast, and then we had to kill a bunch of things, and later I freed Washu, 
and then we were..."
"I'll take the shortened version, thank you."
"Well, Tenchi was killed by this Kagato guy, and then Tsunami brought him back 
and then he used this big sword to slice through Kagato.  Then Kagato vanished 
and we all thought he was dead, but he may not have been, because I think that 
he was in that weird dream world, but I'm not sure, and if he is alive, then he 
must be really, really strong and Tenchi will have a hard time killing him, even 
harder than before, which is real bad!" Mihoshi rambled quickly, and 
illogically.
"Sure," Kiyone prolonged the single word, making it far more sarcastic with each 
second she held it.
"Ok, let's get going," Toshimi called from the ship as he poked his clothed body 
out from the doorway.  Mihoshi and Kiyone ran quickly toward the ship and leapt 
in.  As Kiyone pulled back on the throttle, the ship blasted energy behind it.
"Engaging primary cannons," said Toshimi in a falsely professional voice as he 
triggered a switch on the dashboard.
"Launching," called Kiyone.  The ship sped toward the solid stone wall at the 
exit and seemed to be about to collide with it, when suddenly a large amount of 
fire and stone clogged the sensory systems.  The monitors cleared to reveal the 
vast, starry field of space.  Their craft soared out of the nebular dust and 
into a recognizable portion of the galaxy.  Unfortunately, as they checked a 
rear display, they saw the large stone fortification behind them speed 
unerringly toward them.
"What the hell?!" Kiyone called forth, "Full thrust, Mihoshi, now!"
Mihoshi tilted two controls toward herself, and watched the ship merge into 
hyperspace.
"A hyperspace signature has been detected in the general vicinity at which we 
lost track of our three police officers.  Should we check it out?" a man at 
Headquarters spoke to a woman of a higher rank.
"Yes, it seems to have another ship with it that it much larger and composed of 
stone.  Check it out, and send a few escorts with you," she said to the man, 
before sending him to his duties.  The man slowly walked down the hallway, and 
entered a door to his right, "but I'm gonna get some chow first."
"Hey, Chie, come here," a voice called from the crowd of coffee-drinking, donut-
snacking Galaxy policepersons.
"Oh, what's going on, Sarah?" the man seated himself beside the girl who'd 
called for him.
"Not much," she replied, "you?"
"Nothing really happening here... except I have a little case to go on," Chie 
spoke, "checking out a hyperspace signature-pretty routine."
"Where is it?" Sarah asked.
"It's near where those Galaxy police officers got lost.  I'm supposed to have an 
escort."
"I'll be your escort," Sarah smiled as she handed her cup of frothy cappuccino 
to Chie.
"You don't want this anymore?"
"No, you have it."
"Thanks," Chie smiled and went back to the conversation, "I don't want to 
pressure you into being an escort; it gets dangerous out there."
"Come now, Chie, you know me... I can handle it."
"Just don't be getting yourself hurt out there."
"As long as you're out there with me, Chie, I don't see that happening."
"Wait a minute, who's the escort, now?  Heh, heh, just kidding.  We can leave 
right after we eat here."
"Ok, sounds good."
	Tenchi's face twisted as he looked toward the long winding road ahead of 
him.  He tried to stare out of the side window to subdue his nausea, but the 
blinding speed of the objects whizzing past him only acted as a catalyst to his 
sickness.
"How much longer..." Tenchi groaned.
"Oh, my, Son.  We have quite a long trip ahead of us," Nobuyuki smiled, "if I 
were you, I'd get some rest while we're on the road."
Tenchi just groaned another irritant sigh as they sped down the road.  Suddenly, 
a car pulled aside them to pass.  The car was being driven by an elderly woman.  
Through a side window, Tenchi saw the face of a girl.  She appeared to be about 
Tenchi's age, and, by the way she was positioned, rather shy and introverted.  
She was very protective of herself, and the manga she was holding, which seemed 
to be something cyberpunk-ish, and filled with large mechanical beasts, 
violence, and nudity-nothing short of perfection.  Tenchi, even with just the 
split second glance, realized that she probably wasn't too well-known or -liked, 
yet had great taste in art.  He could hear reverberations of music from her 
vehicle that seemed to be ancient Japanese music, with techno and trance 
instrumentals mixed in as well.  They had very similar tastes.  Looking more 
closely to her physical appearance now, making sure to get his priorities 
straight, Tenchi noticed her jet black hair.  It was shoulder length and infused 
with carnation pink dashes of color, here and there.  It lay about shoulder 
length, but she'd put it into a flowering arrangement above her head, using a 
pink hairpiece.  Tenchi panned down to her eyes, next.  They were pink-colored, 
which struck Tenchi as a bit odd, but he knew the capabilities of contact lenses 
and dismissed this fact.  The Crowned Prince of Jurai also scanned his vision 
across various other portions of her body, but just to highlight a few, were her 
clothes, which sparkled with an assortment of beads and jewels, but remained 
subdued-not too flashy or glamorous.  After the car had rested aside Nobuyuki's 
for five or six seconds, still trying to pass, the girl looked through her 
window toward Tenchi.  She stared at him and seemed to be examining him as well.  
Tenchi stared into her eyes and pondered what she was thinking.  He was certain 
she was wondering what he was thinking, too, which would be a tad unnecessary, 
since he was thinking about what she was thinking.  The two cars remained 
adjacent to one another for what seemed like an eternity or two.  Tenchi 
continued staring as the girl scribbled something onto a sheet of paper.  Before 
the elderly lady managed to pass Nobuyuki, the girl pressed the sheet firmly 
against the window: "56-778-993"  Tenchi scrambled for a notepad to jot down the 
number before she'd left.
"56-778-993," Tenchi chanted to himself rhythmically, while searching the car 
for something to write on.
"What are you looking for, Tenchi?" Father spoke as he continued driving 
happily.
"Something to write on!  56-778-993."
"Did you check under the seat?"
"No, I'll do that now, 56-778-993."
Tenchi searched and, low and behold, that was where he'd left it.  Quickly, he 
recorded the number from his memory onto the paper.
"C'mon, Tenchi, get in your seat, there're winding roads ahead."
Tenchi leapt into his seat and stored the paper in his pocket.  As the road 
became bendier, Tenchi felt his stomach twist in horrid disgust.  After the 
fourteenth turn, Tenchi could take no more.
	A large flow of vile, red chunks and liquid poured downward.  It was 
strewn with little bits and pieces of mixed food items, and was congealed like 
gelatin.
"You expect me to eat this?!" exclaimed Chie looking at the Galaxy HQ's cook 
who'd just poured the slimy concoction onto his plate.
"Chie, don't cause problems, let's just finish our meal and go," Sarah said as 
she hurried him along.
"I don't see why you're coming along with me... it might end up being 
dangerous," Chie pulled a seat for Sarah.
"I've not seen danger in so long, it's hard to remember what it feels like," 
Sarah daintily accepted the seat.  Chie then seated himself and put his plate 
onto the table affront him.  He looked over at Sarah's dish, a T-bone steak, 
mashed potatoes, fried wild rice, and steamed vegetables.  Chie glanced down at 
his own, delicious, well-prepared meal, lumps of red stuff, green and orange 
chunks, reddish gray sauce, and smothered in what appeared to be butter.
"Well, let's eat," Sarah chuckled and began eating her steak in a prim and 
proper fashion.
"Easy for you to say," Chie managed to take but a single bite of his food, 
before deciding to dispose of it.  He lowered it to the ground, and let a dog 
that enjoys running about HQ lick it up for him.
"Poor dog," Chie shook his head.
"Hee, hee," Sarah smiled, "you're silly.  Here..."
She handed Chie her fork with a piece of steak on it.  He contentedly ate the 
portion of meat, and returned her the utensil.   The two shared the remainder of 
their meal together.
"Private Kuramitsu Chie!!" an intercom bellowed, "get your sorry ass to bay and 
get flying."
Hastily, Chie and Sarah sped down the hallway toward the docking bay.
"Crud, I guess I'm a tad bit late," Chie spoke as he boarded an average looking 
Galaxy Police vessel.  Sarah boarded one aside his that was equipped with a more 
adequate defense system, but less capable salvaging tools.  The two sped out 
into the black void.
"Anything yet?" Sarah droned despairingly, a few hours later.  Chie had now 
given up even checking the radar, "Nada."
"Anything?" Sarah asked again thirty minutes later.
"Nope."
Another hour passed.
"Yet?"
"Negative.. no wait," Chie suddenly perked up.
"What is it?" Sarah awakened herself from her comatose state.
"Two objects; moving at c2," Chie used a term that meant twice the speed of 
light.
"Where?"
"About forty kilometers easterly-up of here, headed south in our direction."
"Will it hit..."
Chie interrupted, "No, but the echoes will shatter us."
Sarah tried to remain calm, but her anxiety showed in the way she sounded, "What 
can we do?"
"We'll have to match velocity, then try to get out of the way, else the echoes 
will be traveling too fast relative to us."
"We'd better do it fast, then, Chie."
"Let me leech your ship."
"Ok," she toggled a switch to give Chie control of both crafts.
"Five," he counted, patiently, hoping he'd make it in time, "four."
"Three," he said as he saw the two vessel approach ever more quickly, "two."
"One," as the outer energy waves vibrating from the nearby ship in hyperspace 
were about to tear through Chie and Sarah, their ships blasted alongside the 
craft in the lead.  This craft was another Galaxy Police vessel.  The two 
Galactic ships cruised swiftly through space, leaving stars and nebulae in their 
wake.  Sarah looked behind her craft at the large ship looming toward her.  It 
appeared to be crafted from stone, but had the swirled line patterns of a tree.  
As she stared ever deeper into the ship, her vision began to fade.  Images 
seemed to become surreal, floating idly throughout meaningless time and 
existence.
"No, there must be a way to escape," she heard her own voice say, in a misted, 
dream-like tone.
"Hey, guys, here's a door.  I think it's the way out," she heard the voice of an 
adolescent male pass through the blur of colors.
"No don't, it must be a trap," her voice spoke again.
"We've gotta try," the male voice returned.
"No, stop," it sounded as though she was trying to restrain this male, but was 
unable.
"Oh, my, my," a sinister voice laughed in her mind, "How intriguing this is-
watching you fools lose the very game you were born to play."
"Sarah," a voice came to her.
"Sarah," it came again, "hey, wake up."
The blur slowly faded back into reality, which was an up-close view of Chie's 
face.
"Wh-where am I?" Sarah stuttered.
"We were overtaken by the stone ship about a half hour ago," he sighed, "I've 
been trying to wake you up."
"Hi there," waved Toshimi, but she had no recollection of whom he was.
"Oh, we're with the three lost Galaxy policepersons," Chie pointed to them, and 
probably addressed them by their names, but Sarah was still in a drowsy state.  
Her surroundings appeared to be those of a large suite.  There were hot tubs, 
windows peering out into space, and round beds, rather than rectangular ones.
"Does Galaxy HQ know our location, Chie?" Kiyone asked.
"Not any more.  Last signal they directed was about five parsecs northerly-down 
of here," replied Chie.
"So," Toshimi added, uncomfortably, "what now?"
"We wait," Mihoshi somberly spoke, "Hopefully, Galaxy police officials will find 
us before too long."
"Oh, my God.  We're going to die out here," Kiyone nervously searched for an 
exit from the well-sized, beautifully-decorated suite.
"Calm down," Chie replied, "there must be a logical way out of this."
Sarah then realized that this was not a dream.  Something actually happened 
here.
"Hey everyone," Mihoshi said in a chipper tone, "I found some food."
She was calling from another room.  Toshimi and Chie ran in to join her.  Sarah 
was still a bit disoriented, and Kiyone was concerned with greater problems at 
the time.
	The entrance to the room was mounted in place, and could not be closed 
off.  The dining area was as large as a ballroom.  To the rear of the room, a 
small display with bonsai trees, and a flowing waterfall glistened heavenly 
beneath colorful, nebular light from a window in the ceiling.  The entire 
ceiling was covered by this same window, which peered into the quickly speeding 
stars and nebular dust.  The floor was tiled with glass panels; below these were 
the gently flowing waters of the waterfall across the room.  The channels of 
water sped through a series of grooves and artistic designs in the floor into a 
pool in the floor below.  The floor below was impossible to see, but Mihoshi 
imagined it to be similar to the hot tub room they were in previously.  The 
walls were decorated with stone carvings and mosses growing across them.  There 
also seemed to be a film of water sliding down these walls, but nowhere from 
which they could've emerged.  The table was a smooth mahogany with large footed 
legs.  The chairs were the same, but padded with azure velvet, for comfort.  A 
glass vase at the table's center had a single black rose in it.  Ironically, one 
of its petals fell to the table as they all sat in awe of the scene.  Even more 
unbelievable was the fact that the table was set for five, and had an incredible 
array of foods-miso soup, shrimp tempura, gyoza, sushi, sashimi, and soba 
noodles, just to name a few of the delicacies.  Already filled were three wine 
glasses, glistening delicately with the fine, amethyst hue of plum wine.  Two 
other goblets were on the table, and were filled with a transparent alcohol, 
topped with a small olive, and salted to perfection.  Kiyone walked into the 
room, dragging the now-completely-awakened Sarah.  They couldn't trust their 
eyes either.  Mihoshi and Chie seated themselves before the martinis, while the 
other sat affront the plum wine glasses.  Before they decided to commence with 
dinner, Kiyone wisely said, "Hey, wait!"
Mihoshi stopped herself from taking the first bite of her wasabi-laden portion 
of sushi, "What is it?"
"Remember what happened last time we succumbed to our desires?" Kiyone spoke.
"She's right." Toshimi dropped his chopsticks and pondered about this.
"Whatth are you guysh thalkingguh abouth?" Chie asked, mouth stuffed with 
sashimi.
"Oh no!" Kiyone interjected, "Spit it out, Chie!"
"No, this is great," he swallowed the bite of food and sipped from his martini.
"What should we do till then?" Sarah asked, "I can't just sit here and look at 
this food."
"What do you mean, Sarah?" Chie jumped in, "You just ate."
"Well, I'm hungry again."
"Hmmm," Mihoshi pondered.
"Hey, look!" Toshimi pointed toward the entrance of the room, or at least where 
it was a few moments ago.  In its place was a waterfall diorama of a red-eyed 
succubus attacking a city on another planet.
"That city," Mihoshi started, "it looks familiar."
"Of course it does, Mihoshi," Kiyone grumbled, "that's Jurai."
"Jurai?!" the entire group exclaimed in unison.
"Ah yes," an eerie voice slipped into the room from every direction, "one of my 
great works.  It is a shame that my tool was overcome by inane emotions."
"Who are you?  Where are you?" Kiyone drew forth her Galaxy Police pistol and 
pointed it and various locations around the room.
"Ha, ha, ha," the voice came ever closer to them, "fools.  You think mortal 
means can slay me, when not even an immortal weapon of great proportion could?"
"You're... you're... Kagato!" Kiyone yelled as she tried to strategize an 
attack.
"Kagato," Mihoshi mumbled in a deep undertone, not often used by her, "what is 
it that you want?"
"I'm here to find Washu.  It is my job to destroy her."
"Why's that?" Mihoshi asked.
"You see," Kagato began, "when someone is born upon the shores of the heavens, 
they enter this universe with a purpose, a meaning to life.  When mortals are 
yielded, they're purpose it to be a tool with which the gods and demigods fight.  
I was created with a purpose, a..."
"What?" Toshimi interrupted, "You're a god?"
"Ignorant soulless obstruction," Kagato yelled, "my purpose is to destroy the 
forces keeping the universe in tact-life, time, and space.  In order to do this, 
I must eliminate each one's physical entity, as well as each one's spiritual 
entity.  Upon accomplishing this, the universe will be free of that which tears 
it apart."
"Tears it apart?" Sarah interrogated, "what do you mean?  These are the things 
that allows us all to exist..."
"Silence.  Existence is a mere attempt by mankind to destroy that which is pure.  
The universe, the stars in the heavens, they were made for gods and goddesses, 
not the impure.  If any immortal chooses to keep these vile beings among the 
living, they shall cease to be as well."
Gradually, a form phased into existence at the center of the dining room table, 
not disturbing any of the food.
His hair was a shimmering, haunting, light gray that pierced the eyes of its 
onlookers with the chill of a ghost.  His form was magical-not in any way 
plausible to those seeing him.  His eyes of yellow glistened like amber stones 
under the sparkling heavens.  A small pair of spectacles rested at the end of 
his nose, and led one's vision down to his unexplainably disturbing smirk.  Two 
long strands of hair were draping from his head onto his shoulders, which was 
longer than when Mihoshi had seen him last.  He was dressed with what appeared 
to be royal attire.  Slowly, he stepped down from the table and rose his arms in 
the air.  The group of five watched as their food vanished from the table.  
Their drinks remained.  The black rose floated from the vase amid the table and 
into Kagato's hand.  As he grasped the rose, it transformed into a long, glowing 
obsidian blade.  Its energy absorbed the room's light, and made Chie and Sarah's 
flesh tingle uneasily.
"So," Kagato smiled as he considered his next course of action, "what would be a 
good way to get my targets rounded up?"
He blasted a single bolt of midnight-toned energy through the ceiling glass 
toward a large mass of battling ships.  The mass of around two-thousand was 
eliminated from existence in a moment's time as they were engulfed by the eerie 
combustion of blackened power.  The ceiling glass floated into the void of 
space.  Normally, the atmosphere within the ship would be sucked out into space 
if such an event had taken place, but this was no ordinary ship.
"My game will be commencing shortly," he laughed in his bastardly tone, "keep 
yourselves occupied until then."
He vanished from the room, their meals returned, and the exit to the room was 
back in place.  The five Galaxy policepersons simply gasped in awe.
	"In other news," Washu watched absorbedly as more data filled her mind, 
"the officials who'd been keeping their relationship with the Jurai a secret 
until the war broke loose are suffering the most, for they have to lead their 
nations through this time of war.  Jurai council claims, 'Earth is in breach of 
Galactic code 2-373, 'Those within the protection area or jurisdiction of 
another planet or colony must remain neutral to all sides, and must, by all 
means, refrain from attacking their governing society,' and therefore must 
suffer the punishments for such actions.'  The Juraians realize the Earth knew 
nothing of these rules, but refuse to hold back on their attacks.  Luckily, the 
Earth's many principal nations revealed their space vessels and weapons for such 
an occasion.  Life on Earth will never be the same, and now, many... if not 
all... of us feel that we have been lied to by our leaders, and attacked for 
their actions.  Editorial commentary continues with Tsu..."
"Oh, darling... it is you I love," the station changed from the news to a poorly 
made romance, "and it has always been..."
"What gives?" Ryoko yelled, "I was watching that."
She glanced over and noticed that Aeka had a firm grip on the remote control.  
Washu, Akira, and Kai looked toward her also.
"Well..." Aeka tried desperately to explain, but kept her usual prim and proper 
tone, "I was simply giving us all something else to watch for a while.  I think 
we need to have... diversity when we watch television."
"Aeka," Washu raised a brow, "are you feeling well?"
"I think she's too ashamed to have us all know the truth about Jurai," Ryoko 
closed in on Aeka's face and taunted her.
"Now, I'll have you know!" Aeka shouted back, "The Earth is making Jurai's 
actions look unreasonable.  I'm sure Jurai had every reason to..."
"To what?" Ryoko interrupted, "Attack my Tenchi?"
"I would never let Jurai take any action that would cause harm to Lord Tenchi, 
you know that."
"Then why are you doing this princess."
"I'm not, you... you... monster!  Jurai is simply following Galactic..."
"I'm tired of your excuses, Aeka," Ryoko yelled, "Admit it, you'd destroy Earth 
just to kill me and make yourself look better, whether Tenchi was on it or not."
"That's a lie, Ryoko," Aeka shrieked, "and nothing you say can tell me that 
Jurai has done wrong."
"Is this really necessary?" Grandpa walked into the room, "You two bickering and 
whatnot?"
"Sorry, Lord Katsuhito," Aeka lowered her head.
"Ryoko?" Grandpa addressed her.
"Yes, sorry... Yosho," she incorporeally passed through the door to her room on 
the second floor.  Aeka ran toward her chambers, crying.
"Well..." Grandpa took a seat, with an awkward look on his face and turned the 
station back to the news, on a different channel this time.
"Military reports have just emerged that the Juraian vessel that landed in the 
forest was the carrying vessel of one Juraian princess, Jurai Aeka, who is 
believed to still be on Earth," the news broadcaster read from a sheet below 
him, "when found, she will be used for negotiations by Earth representatives for 
peace.  All housing developments and personal homes in the Okiyama area will be 
searched until this person is found and placed into international custody."
"Oh my," Yosho contemplated this, "we'll have to get out of here to someplace 
safe."
A silence rose above Washu, Kai, and Akira.
"Anyone want some snacks?" Sasami entered the room a few seconds later with a 
cabbit on her shoulder and a plate of food in her hands.
"I wish I could, Sasami," Grandpa rubbed the back of his head, "but you see, I 
have important things to do in town, so I'm going to be off now."
"Are you sure you don't want any?" Sasami asked again.
"I'm sure," Grandpa lifted himself from the bed and walked toward the front 
door.  He noticed the workers who were steadily rebuilding the house.  
Hopefully, they wouldn't be able to notice the odd occurrences around the house.
"Washu, Kai, Akira, do you want the snacks?" Sasami questioned, politely.
"I've got some... uh... science-ish stuff to do," smiled Washu before heading 
toward her subspace lab.
"I need to study up a little on my Juraian theology," began Kai, "I'm sure 
Grandfather has a few books lying about in the library."
Kai headed across the room toward the library.  Sasami looked anxiously toward 
Akira, eyes shimmering and widened like a hopefully puppy dog.  Ryo-ohki 
repeated this expression.
"Oh, all right," Akira grinned and sampled one of Sasami's preparations, 
"...wow!  This is exquisite.  I'm sure Ryoko will want one.  Let's go get her."
	Grandpa drew further away from the house out to the location where the 
workers' truck was parked.  Secretively, he altered his appearance into that of 
the young, spry Yosho-form.  With relative poise, and the silent nature of a 
trained assassin, he managed to crack the glass with the flattened palm of his 
hand.  It splintered like a spider's web, but no fragments of glass punctured 
into his hand.  Carefully, he pushed inward on the glass causing it to fall to 
the inside of the vehicle.  A single lissome bound was all it took to move him 
from outside the vehicle into the inside.  One of the workers nonchalantly 
looked toward the truck, but Yosho had ducked in time to evade this.  Yosho 
transformed back into his elder form.  He began fidgeting with the wiring 
beneath the dashboard.
"It always looks so easy in the movies," he thought as he struggled some more.  
Suddenly, a spark, a roaring engine, screeching tires, frantic workers, fumbling 
Grandfather, and near escape roll past in what seems to be but a few seconds.
"I'll bring it back in a few hours," Grandpa grinned and sped quickly away.  
Upon the horizon a few minutes later, when he'd lost the angry workers, he found 
a large structure.  It appeared to be a translucent, green dome.  Within it were 
portions of wood backed by strong Juraian shielding material.  The large core of 
Ryu-oh, Aeka's long lost ship, was hanging high by a few cords and cables.  
Pressing harder on the gas petal, Grandpa rode toward the building beneath the 
noontime sky.  Slowly, the sun's glowing heat emanated so intensely from above 
that the stream of cool, white energy pouring downward was inescapable.
	The stream of white energy cascaded mellifluously into a large mass of 
water.  This was a giant pool.  Its water had the spirituality of waters 
collected from hot springs all around Japan, but the nebular dust in the ceiling 
window suggested that it was elsewhere.  Each pool of water was a panel with a 
small dip to hold in the fluid.  They hovered above one another and formed a 
channel of streaming waterfalls that poured into the deep abyss of space.  The 
vegetation and flowering were positioned in such a manner that it created a 
surreal scene of a sweltering jungle hovering in the empty cosmos.  Kiyone 
drifted deeper beneath the warmth of the waters.  Perfection, bliss, rapture, 
and chastity-these words came to mind when the teal-haired GP officer slowly 
washed herself with an herbal soap.  She glanced over at Mihoshi, whose tan she 
was envious of, and tried to speak, but no words emerged from her mouth.  The 
other three Galactic defenders did the same, knowing that Kagato was not 
specifically targeting them for his attack.  Toshimi noticed that there was a 
hole into space beneath him, and yet controlled gravity.  He wondered what would 
happen if he decided to leap off into space.  Within a few seconds, Toshimi 
managed to derive a headache from all this thinking, and continued to bathe 
without interruption from higher thought processes.
	"Misaki!" a voice yelled among the concentric circles and flowing waters 
of the Juraian planet, "Where has my Aeka run off to this time?"
Hastily, Misaki ran into the quarters of Azusa, the Crowned King of the Jurai 
Royal Family.
"Yes, honey," she smiled and stroked a hand through her cobalt hair, "what is 
it?"
"You heard me..." Azusa grumbled, "Where's Aeka... Sasami?"
"I... I tried to stop them, but..."
"Where!?"
"...on... on the Earth."
"What?  In this time of war?  You had best hope you're mistaken!"
"Look, I don't control their every action, mister."
"Oh, Misaki, Misaki... if only you're two girls were as responsible as Yosho, 
they'd..."
"Those two girls," Misaki interrupted, "are the only two I've got, and they 
behave like civilized and mature young nobles most-if not all-of the time."
"Did you send crews to get them back?"
"Yes, that was my first course of action.  I sent two capable Galaxy Police..."
"Wait, a conflict in terms.  You said 'capable' and 'Galaxy Police' in the same 
sentence."
"You don't trust their power?"
"It often falters is all I have to say about it."
"All precautions have been taken, and by now, Yosho should be trying to find a 
way to bring them back anyway."
"True."
"Speaking of Yosho," started Misaki, "where is sister Funaho?"
"She is at a council meeting amending the Galactic Constitution of Laws and 
Rights."
"Ooh, I wanna go!"
"Too bad," Azusa shook his head.
"Sir," a video window opened up between Azusa and his wife, "our mole has been 
planted."
"Good," Azusa replied to the image, "did you find our target?"
"Yep, and the ploy worked," the face of the man lit with a villainous grin.
"Did he call yet?"
"No, but he hasn't arrived anywhere with a phone, yet."
"He should have a cell phone or something," Azusa commented, "umm, when you 
receive him, just get the astral form of him and we may be able to patch him 
through; thanks to a few of the late Dr. Clay's papers on astral patterning and 
time-space interjection."
"Over and out sir," the man nodded, "oh, and how's... uh... the 'thing' doing?"
"Well," Azusa whispered so his wife couldn't hear, "the doctor said it would 
pass after a few goes with it."
"Ah, well, have a good day."
"You too."
	"Let's see," Tenchi held a cellular phone a few inches away from him and 
looked over the buttons to find which ones to press.
"Where is that paper?" he check himself for the note that he'd written the phone 
number down on, "It must be here somewhere."
"Tenchi, your food's getting cold, you may want to eat it now," Nobuyuki, amid 
driving pushed a Styrofoam container of fast food toward Tenchi.
"Thanks Father," Tenchi took the meal from him and continued searching.
"Aha, there it is," Tenchi found it beneath his seat.  While reaching down to 
pick it up, or at least flip it over to see the number, the car suddenly 
stopped.  Tenchi's glass of green tea fell from his plate and onto the paper.  
When Tenchi managed to clean up enough of the mess, the ink was illegibly strewn 
about the document.
"D', oh!" Tenchi released an emphatic grunt of frustration like he so often 
does.  He tried to make out the writing on the paper while pressing the numbers 
on his cell phone.
"58-796-988," he thought to himself as he attempted the call.  An abrupt an 
irritant noise involving three jarring tones of ascending pitch rung through 
Tenchi's head as he made his first error.
"56-798-998," Tenchi took more time to examine the paper this time before 
dialing, but the response was still the same.
"Tenchi, what are you up to?" Father asked of Tenchi.
"Oh, nothing, just trying to make a call," Tenchi spoke while taking a small 
portion of soba and eating it quickly.
"56-778-983," Tenchi entered into the cellular phone.  Three rings came before 
an answer.
"Hello," an obnoxious, loud man yelled across the phone, "no one lives here but 
me.  There's no way in hell it's me you're calling."
"Oh, sorry, wrong number," Tenchi decided to give up trying to call for now.
	The truck screeched to a halt barely outside a fence surrounding the 
ship's containment unit.  Grandpa proceeded out of the vehicle and toward a gap 
in the gate.  He passed easily aside guards who didn't even notice his presence.  
Just before he entered the containment center, a sentry stopped him.
"Sir, I'm afraid I can't let you in there," the protector held froth a hand, 
"without being properly suited in biohazard-proofed clothing."
"Of course," Grandpa nodded and picked up a bio-suit nearby.
"We don't know what type of foreign viruses and bacteria may originate in that 
god-forsaken planet where this tree ship thingy comes from."
"Right, all precautions must be taken, right?"
"Yep."
Grandfather continued walking until he was within the airlock of Ryu-oh's 
holding chamber.  The airlock eventually allowed him access to the main area, 
within which the large nucleus hung.
"So this is it," he spoke allowed to himself, "these people take too many 
precautions."
He noticed that Ryu-oh's seed was lying amid a central disk of the chamber.  He 
knew it couldn't possibly grow there.  With the utmost dexterity, he snatched 
the seed and dropped it into a pocket.  Job completed, he headed back for home.
	"How nice," Akira blushed coyly as she slipped her toweled body into the 
flowing waters of the onsen with Sasami, Kai, and Ryoko at her side.  They all 
munched from the snack plate that floated atop the water while relaxing in the 
water.  Ryoko's felt the air.  It felt a lot like those days when she and Aeka 
would bicker and fight trivially over things while battling in the water.  She 
recalled the day that she revealed Aeka's body to Tenchi, and how funny that 
was.
"Ha," Ryoko chuckled softly.  No one else knew why, but she felt it within her.  
She also brought to mind the time that Aeka was leaving back to Jurai, for what 
she thought would be her wedding:
	"Well, Tenchi," Aeka had fallen into Tenchi arms and wept uncontrollably, 
"I guess... that all of these... times we've had together.  All the things... 
we've lived through all seem so trifling.  If it were my choice..."
Aeka paused and cried onto Tenchi for a few more seconds.  Ryoko sat at the 
side, feeling empathy, but refusing to show any.
"...I'd want to have a year with just you and I, where time itself stood," tears 
rolled down Aeka's face, "still... and nothing mattered but l..."
The Juraian princess ceased her talking momentarily and walked toward Ryu-oh, "I 
wish you two the best life you can possibly have.  That..."
Yosho had already said his goodbyes to Tenchi, which brought him to the state of 
tears-tears he had not shed for many years.  Aeka's words moved him into a 
prolonged sadness.
"Maybe someday... Tenchi.  We'll meet again.  Perhaps," Aeka made deep 
inhalations sporadically, "even some time soon.  I'm... I'm... sorry, Lord 
Tenchi."
	Ryoko began crying, but not in her mind.  These tears poured into the 
onsen, which she'd built for Tenchi, Aeka, and herself.  The tears of a pain 
that would never be ended.  It was unfair that such chaos and war followed her 
every action, and plagued those she respected and cared for the most.
"Why," she thought, "must I hurt those I need?  Why do I create such anguish to 
those that need no more?  Why?"
Ryoko wondered if it would've been better to have never been resurrected by 
Tenchi, to have simply watched his life and allow him to live normally.  Their 
marriage just didn't seem to work.  Tenchi and Ryoko were wonderful people, but 
something within them confused and distorted what was really necessary for what 
was simply wanted or desired.  Love based on empty desire, not a personal need 
is useless.
"Isn't that what we had?" Ryoko asked herself, "I know I loved him.  That 
emotion is obvious to me, but a marriage is union between those who love each 
other in a way they love no one else."
Ryoko only managed in making herself feel ill, "I'm going to go sit down for a 
while and take a rest."
Ryoko left the area and used her demonic prowess to reacquire her clothing.  She 
drifted through the wall and into the main room of the house, where she saw Aeka 
and Grandfather standing affront the two workers.
"You see," Aeka grabbed Grandpa by the arm and began dragging him away, 
"Grandfather has been having a little trouble up stairs, and he isn't feeling 
too well."
"Hey, Gramps," one worker yelled, "touch the truck again and your house is going 
back the way it started."
Quickly, the two walked into the main hall where Ryoko continued watching their 
activities.
"Aeka," Yosho giddily dropped an object into Aeka's hand.
"It's," Aeka paused, "the seed!  Where did you find it?"
"That doesn't matter, the Earth commanders will find you soon and take you 
hostage unless we can get you safely into Ryu-oh and headed home."
"Washu," interrupted Ryoko, "can supply you with an atmosphere for it."
"Oh, hello Ryoko," Aeka glanced toward her, "I'm afraid I may have to be leaving 
again."
"I'll say goodbye to Tenchi for you," Ryoko looked down at her from her hovering 
location above.
"I..." Aeka began, "Yosho, we can't leave Tenchi here.  Let's take him with us 
back to Jurai, until the dispute ends.  I know this is asking much, but I think 
it would be a good idea."
"Perhaps," Yosho stared in thought, "but Tenchi will never be back in time."
"We could always catch up with him," Ryoko added.
"What makes you helpful all of the sudden, Ryoko?" Aeka inquired.
"I just want to see if Jurai is as horrible as everyone on Earth says it is."
	Three knocks grace the door to Washu's subspace laboratory.
"Come in," was her reply.
"Hey, Washu-chan," Aeka smiled and presented the scientist with a small seed, 
"can you grow this for me?"
"Your ship, eh?" Washu spoke, "Great timing, I just finished phase two out of 
three of my ultimate creation.  Now, I must ask; do you have the core?"
"Well, I'm afraid it's not here at the time," Aeka answered.
"That's ok, luckily for you I have some replicates... but it'll cost you 
5,000,000�."
"Grr, Washu-chan," Aeka shouted, "just do it, I haven't much time.  We're all 
going to head off to Jurai, and we need it grown quickly."
"Nothing to it."
"Nothing to it?"
"Not for the greatest scientific genius in the universe... but why are we `all` 
going to head off to Jurai?  And does this `all` include me?"
"Well, I'm being pursued by Earth, and I was wanting to convene with my family 
again.  I guess we `all` don't have to go, just Sasami, Yosho and I."
"Ah, I see.  I'll have your ship as good as new by tomorrow morning."
"Oh, thank you, Washu-chan," Aeka smiled and saw Kai as he entered the subspace 
laboratory.
"Hey Washu-chan," Kai nodded as he glanced at Washu's progress.  Washu slipped 
the seed of Ryu-oh into a temporal hole which led to the Juraian atmosphere 
simulator.
"How are you doing, Kai?" Washu pressed a few keys on her keyboard and made the 
translucent image of a screen appear in front of the immense aquarium in her 
lab.  Through the blackened screen, a large fish could be seen devouring another 
one, smaller, but still far larger than any one on Earth.
"What is this for?" Kai asked.  Washu simply grinned and made a chair and a desk 
bounce up from the solid laboratory floor.
"Ready for Chronophysics 101?" Washu summoned a remote control with the push of 
a button, which she used to raise a professor's podium from the ground, as well 
as four more chairs and desks.  Several meaningless books, a planner, pens and 
pencils, paper and eraser sticks dropped onto each of the tables.  Kai seated 
himself in one of the desks and flipped through the nonsensical pages of a 
stereotypical book.  
	"What the hell is this all about?" Ryoko sighed as she looked forward at 
Washu.  She was seated with Kai to her left and Aeka to her right.  Aeka sat to 
the left of her younger sister, and Sasami sat to the left of Akira.
"Yes, Washu, we have a few chores that need to be done," Aeka began, "if you 
wouldn't mind letting us go now, I think..."
"Quiet now, class, there's work to be done," Washu silenced them.  Ryoko relaxed 
her in her chair, paying very little attention, while snacking on rice crackers.
"Ok, listen up, everyone," Washu caused an image of a blue circle about three 
meters in circumference and ten centimeters thick to appear in a field of 
swirling green hues on the screen she'd created.  Washu fitted a small pair of 
glasses over her emerald eyes and made a professor's gown and cap materialize 
onto her before continuing.  With the push of a button, Washu made the green 
field stabilize, and produce green waves from the center of the circle.  
Occasionally, a bright green circular band would radiate from the circle's 
inside.  When this highlighted ring reached the blue width of the circle, it 
made the blue lighter, and continued moving, until it was beyond the circle.  
Ryo-ohki watched intently from atop Sasami's head.
"This," Washu pointed a long staff toward the ever flowing mass of green energy, 
"is time."
"Hmm... cool," Kai spoke, trying not to look too scientific, but still 
interested.
"Always flowing," Washu continued, "pouring outward, and passing at the same 
speed it started with.  This..."
Washu pointed toward a small, light green band of energy, "is called an event.  
Notice how the event moves away from its origin, through the field of blue, and 
out again."
"What does all this mean?" Sasami asked.
"Umm, heh, heh," Washu scratched her head, "let me continue."
Washu picked another moving band and slowed down the simulation to have time to 
track it, "The event is generated at the center of the circle, but let me show 
you how it is created."
The image zoomed into the inner edge of the blue field, "This is the current 
time.  It is producing smaller green waves, isn't it?  When one of these waves 
reaches the inside, it grows much stronger, changes form and returns.  The waves 
that our current time produces are called actions.  Each action moves toward the 
center of the circle.  When our actions get there, they cause an event.  Each 
action we produce, causing an event to bounce back.  Some events can cause us to 
send more action, complicating things even more.  Now..."
Washu zoomed out to show the entire image again, "Time is made or caused at the 
center point.  Notice that some 'actions', the waves that we are currently 
sending into the future, are moving faster than others.  This is because some of 
our 'actions' cause 'events' much sooner than others."
"Miss Washu," Aeka raised her hand, "wouldn't we get the same thing as we 
started with if we just kept receiving our actions back again?"
"Not necessarily, you see... each event starts very small.  As it moves away 
from the center, it gets wider and wider, producing more and more random 
possibilities.  The waves gather odd fluctuations and come back in a similar, 
but different way.  Notice now, that some of the 'events' coming from the 
center, are not always answered by 'actions'.  These events simply flow beyond 
the blue ring, into what has already happened-the past.  Now..."
Washu toggled a device on her control which made a red, very small ring, 
appeared on the inside edge of the thick blue perimeter of the circle, "Within 
the blue ring are all possible times that we can exist in.  Our red ring stands 
for the normal speed at which time travels, one second per second.  Let me make 
an example:"
Washu made a small portion of the red band, which represented the current time, 
a tad bit brighter than the rest, "This is Koji, a student at Tokyo university.  
He is only one insignificant portion of what makes up our current time.  Now, 
let's say that Koji is traveling in his car to school.  Suddenly, a car coming 
from the other side notices a dog crossing the street and turns his vehicle 
toward Koji's.  Without hesitation, Koji produces an action..."
A small wave of green headed toward the center of the image at a blinding pace.
"What did Koji do?" asked Ryoko, nonchalantly, with another bite of cracker 
centimeters away from her mouth.  Washu paused the display for a moment
"Raise your hand next time you have a question to ask, Miss Ryoko," Washu 
slapped her wrist with the end of the pointing stick.
"Ow, dammit Washu!"
"Now, I'll tell you what Koji did," Washu continued with her display, "Koji 
veered away from the oncoming car and off the road."
The action came to the center of the circle and produced an event coming back.
"This event," Washu pointed at it, "is when Koji slips from the road and heads 
toward a few houses below.  Notice now..."
She slowed down the image and pointed to the red dash that represented Koji's 
portion of the current time.  As soon as the event hit Koji, the corresponding 
red dash moved backward in time at the same speed as the event.
"Notice," Washu pointed at the fact that Koji was moving slower through time, 
"when Koji is faced with this event-this problem-he has more time to react.  
This is why when very devastating things happen, it feels like time goes slower, 
giving you longer to react.  This time is enough to allow Koji to send out 
another action, which gets him back on the road, and away from these houses."
The red line that had moved slowly fell back into the same orientation as the 
rest of the red line.
"Events with the potential to be more destructive cause the velocity of time to 
be even lower.  However, regardless of how powerful the event is, there is no 
way for it to move beyond the edges of the blue ring that is known as all the 
possible moments that the current time exists in, or 'domain'.  There is no 
possible way to move forward in time, since the 'domain' is pressed up against 
our current location in time.  Also, it would seem that there is no way of 
moving backward in time beyond our domain, which is no wider than a few seconds.  
Since we only can move backward in time by up to about ten seconds at most, time 
travel seems impossible."
"So, why did you explain all this nonsense again?" Ryoko yawned and molded her 
eraser into a small figure, labeled it as "Aeka", and smashed it into a small 
mound of unrecognizable junk.  A large dry eraser marker flew from Washu's hand 
and bounced off of Ryoko's head, "Quiet!  Let me explain."
Washu used her control to make a small yellow band replace the red one, which 
she was using to label the current time.
"This is Tenchi," she pointed toward the yellow line.  All the girls and Ryo-
ohki perked up.  Kai continued paying the utmost attention, as he had been.
"He is on a roof pounding in nails," Washu continued, "Notice this next 
action..."
She pointed toward a small event passing away from Tenchi, "this is Tenchi 
swinging his hammer downward without looking.  The event it produces is a large 
amount of pain to his thumb.  Now..."
She pointed at the event after it passed Tenchi by, "This has already happened, 
and will be hurting Tenchi for some time.  This action would now seem to be 
impossible to prevent, but just as Tenchi could launch an action forward, 
actions can be launched backward.  Matter pushes actions into the future, but 
contramatter pushes actions toward the past.  Controlling a mass of contramatter 
to project an action into the past could save Tenchi from this damage.  Quickly, 
he utilizes the contramatter device that I simply call the 'Chronomorphic 
Modulation Unit'.  While he is 'back', more or less, in time, he makes sure to 
pay attention where his hammer is landing.  The action that he sends back 
collides quickly with the event."
A small belt of bright green headed toward the event moving further away into 
the past.  When the two collided, the 'action' continued to move further into 
the past, while the event made its way toward the future.
"What Tenchi has done," Washu starts, "has saved him from hitting his thumb with 
the hammer."
The event passed into the blue field and through the yellow line signifying 
Tenchi.
"At this point," Washu stopped the display as the event crossed "Tenchi" from 
behind, "Tenchi is still not effected by the changes in the past, but in his 
memory he can recall it happening before it has even taken place.  This can help 
if someone tries to move into the past to kill you.  You will receive the 
information of the attack and have time to respond.  Now that Tenchi knows he's 
changed the past, he must wait for it to happen."
The event moved into the center of the circle, and came out even stronger than 
before.  It headed toward "Tenchi" and passed him again.
"Now," Washu smiled at her supposed students, "Tenchi has been relieved of this.  
Let's say someone went back in time to kill me.  Remember that events with high 
potential energy make things slow down, just as I explained when I was talking 
about Koji's car accident.  Killing someone is such a strong action and if you 
were to do go back in time to kill me, I'd know about it a few days before it 
actually happened."
"Wow, Washu, you really did some work in here," Kai applauded shortly.  Ryoko 
sat in her desk, fast asleep.  Aeka strained to keep her eyes open.  With a 
single swipe, Washu smacked them both across the face with a school book.
"Ow!" the two fatigued girls yelled in unison.
"Miss Washu?" Sasami addressed, raising a hand and awakening the space ship 
sitting on her head.
"Yes, Miss Sasami?" Washu replied, trying to pay little attention to the strings 
of drool Ryoko was wiping from herself.
"If the waves move that slowly," Sasami inquisitively spoke, "then wouldn't it 
take a long time to change something that happened a long time ago?"
"Yes, good question, Sasami," Washu cracked her knuckles and began explaining, 
"See, if I were to want to change something 20 thousand years ago..."
Ryoko wondered why she chose that specific point in time.
"...I'd have to make the wave a lot faster," Washu began, "That would take more 
energy, right?  That would make my machine lose power.  To solve this problem, I 
made the machine drain power from not only itself, but the person who wants to 
use it."
"What would that do to you?" Ryoko asked.
"Didn't I ask you to raise your hand?" Washu lifted two books from her podium 
and placed one of them into each of Ryoko's hands, forcing her to extend her 
arms and hold them at her sides for the duration of the "class".
"That," Washu answered her question anyway, "would drain your personal energy, 
leaving you weak and confused when you're done affecting the past."
Ryoko and her "classmates" waited for a few seconds, wondering what this entire 
speech was leading to.
	"I bet you're all wondering what this entire speech was leading to," Washu 
guessed them right, "Well, here is the product of all my work."
The screen displaying Washu's in-depth report on chronophysics vanished from 
existence, and was replaced with a hole into another plane.  From the hole, a 
large device lowered.  It had a pink and fuzzy exterior, three comfortable 
chairs, three cylinders that had the ability to lower themselves around the 
chairs, and the unbelievably cute face of a little girl with bright pink hair 
appeared in a floating sphere above the mechanism.
"Now, it's not fully completed," Washu leaned onto the furry side of the device, 
"but within time, this machine will be able to be stored in a cube, taken out of 
the cube whenever you want, and alter you into a contramatter form, so you can 
change the past."
"Wow," Ryoko stood up from her seat, "You can change anything?"
Washu smacked one of the books out of Ryoko's hand, "Naughty girl... you never 
raise your hand.  You can only change the things that you can effect while being 
yourself in whatever location you were in when it happened, but it is still a 
very useful tool."
"Who is that hovering in the sphere?" Akira raised her hand and asked.
"She is your half-daughter, my half-daughter, and Kai's half-daughter as well," 
Washu started, "I used strands of our DNA and contramatter to form Tempus, our 
window into time.  Since she is composed of contramatter, she can see events and 
echoes of events up to one million years into the past and describe them to us.  
She can also see into the future, but since the future is recreated very often, 
she wouldn't be able to see anything more than a few seconds into the future."
"What's the margin of error?" Kai asked with his hand elevated.  Washu looked 
through her minuscule glasses at a paper she'd written, "One percent error for 
all events within a thousand years, and one more percent for every thousand 
after that."
"So," Ryoko began, "if you wanted to..."
Washu quickly poked Ryoko in the stomach with her pointer, "do you have 
something to say?"
Ryoko grumbled and raised her hand into the air, "If you wanted to look back 
about... oh, say... 20 thousand years, there'd be about twenty percent error?"
"Yes, something like that.  The past becomes spread out so greatly that long ago 
it will be a tad bit distorted.  That still doesn't mean that there isn't the 
chance of having a perfectly clear view of that time."
"Miss Washu," Sasami raised her hand, "what does Tempus have to do to tell us 
all this?"
"She is the one," explained Washu, "that tries to find the exact place in time 
that you are looking for, so she can make a composite image of it, and replicate 
the noises within.  Tempus is also a fun person to talk with, since she has a 
log of her personal history to derive, and has a self-implemented personality."
"Sounds marvelous," smiled Aeka with her hand in the air, "but when can we use 
it?"
"The knowledge it can reveal has the potential to give us 'too' much data.  Some 
things are meant to be left a secret," Washu warned, "I will only allow it to be 
used to change the past, which will be soon, when I am done making the return 
from contramatter form less energy costly."
"Well, Miss Washu, I have a few things I need to do," Aeka smiled, "I you don't 
mind, I'll be going."
"No, not yet," Washu straightened her spectacles, "Now is time for lesson two."
"Lesson two?!" The crew of patient "students" fell flat onto their faces.
"This lesson is about anomalies, paradoxes, and doppelgangers," Washu smiled, 
"Now, I hate to make you all do so much work in one day, but here are a few 
worksheets on the previous section."
"That's it," Ryoko flew up out of her seat, "I'm out of here."
Washu used a floating metal probe to restrain Ryoko and pull her back down into 
her chair.  The assignment Washu had referred to phased into reality a few 
inches above the table and dropped down.
"Amazing, Washu," Kai started on his task, "You really planned this one out 
well."
"Well, it's hard for me `not` to make something this perfect," Washu began 
preparing a series of models and displays for the next activity, "Okay class, 
pens and pencils down..."
	Birds chirped and played inane little games high in the sky as a small car 
pulled up to the side of a household.  Tenchi leapt anxiously out of the vehicle 
and ran forth to greet his aunt.
"Hello, Tenchi," she hugged Tenchi with a lively salutation, "how have you 
been?"
"I've been doing pretty good," the Masaki teenager smiled.
"Come in, you two," she motioned toward them, "there's work to be done."
	"Wow," Mihoshi sipped from her saucer of sake, while receiving a deep 
massage by several men from unknown planetary origin, "this is amazing.  I don't 
know what Kagato is waiting for, but I hope it never comes."
"Oh, I'm with you there," Kagato was playing a large game involving a 
holographic sphere surrounding him, and an array of kicking and punching 
digitized objects.  He swung a large beast with a long tail into a gyrating mass 
of equipment, ripping the monster into chunks of meat in a vile and horrific 
manner, "Cool!"
Chie was off in some other room with Sarah playing a three-dimensional board 
game that was new to them both.
"Ok, so which way can the dragon move, again?" Sarah asked.
"Up, down, left, and right, forward, or diagonally, but cannot recede, and can 
launch attacks forward, but in no other direction," Chie explained.
"So," Sarah moved a piece and removed seven of Chie's from the board, "can I do 
this?"
Chie sighed.  Kiyone was wandering throughout the dark and ominous structure of 
stone, searching for clues and artifacts.  Her teal hair glistened with water, 
but it was hard for it to be seen in the dim atmosphere, which was lit only by 
Kiyone's GP-issued flashlight.  A small stone with a symbol engraved within it 
appeared in the jade-eyed officer's eyes.  The mark was recognizable as the word 
for "conception".  The policewoman placed her hand on the rock, gently.  
Instantly, the mineral formation turned to a soft, pliable formation and 
"evaporated" from its place on the wall.  A small hole into another room was in 
its place.
"Sir, your contramaterial stasis is losing power," a simulated female voice 
could be heard through the small hole in the wall, "should we take more of their 
energy?"
"That's the only way, Orbis," Kagato's familiar voice was heard through the 
wall, "until Lady Washu gets here, we'll simply have to wait it out."
Kiyone lowered herself to the floor to peek through into the next room.  Within 
this area, she saw Kagato standing aside a large blue sphere.  There were many 
were many red dots covering this ball, and a small green line connecting a few 
of them together.  Kagato stared into a window, which reflected his face.  He 
said nothing while apparently piloting the vessel.  Kiyone noticed that Kagato's 
reflection was staring directly at her.  Suddenly, she leapt to her feet and 
began running the opposite direction.  A large blast of black energy and ancient 
stone flew toward her, as well as a cascade of white waters.  The detective was 
knocked to her feet.
"Don't try to run, girl," Kagato grinned as he produced a dimensional portal of 
green and yellow hues affront her, transporting her back to his piloting 
chambers.  Kiyone fell at his feet, "Don't hurt me, please."
"Ha, ha," he chuckled as he lifted Kiyone to her feet with a telekinetic touch, 
"Why would I hurt you when I could get so much more out of you?"
Kagato brought Kiyone close to him.  The aura he produced was an unfriendly, 
manipulative one.  He raised an empty arm of his cloak to Kiyone's face.  
Slowly, she fell into a trance.
	"Does that mean," Kai stood up from his desk, "that we'd die here in the 
future?"
"No," Washu pointed toward her example, "this is simply another way to create an 
anomalous condition."
"What is it like in an anomaly?" Sasami asked, raising her hand.
"Well," Washu pointed toward a space on her graph, "all the actions that are 
produced within an anomaly are distorted.  So, if you dropped a book to the 
floor, it may turn to liquid and splash outward, or do something else unusual."
"How can I believe all this nonsense?" asked Ryoko, who was already holding 
three books outward with her hands, and a monumental statue on her head.  Washu 
smacked her hand with her pointing stick again, shook her head, and continued, 
"I'll show you, Ryoko."
Kai watched anxiously toward Washu's interesting scientific explanation.
"Here," Washu placed a small Ryoko doll onto one of Tempus's furry chair's, "is 
our experimental entity-Ryoko."
"Running a test, Washu?" Tempus asked, floating in her glass orb.
"Yep," Washu grinned and tapped a button, sealing the chair within a glass 
chamber.
"Remember, I can't retrieve anything from contramaterial stasis, yet," Tempus 
began, "you still need to finish building me."
"I know," Washu started, "I just want to show them something."
"Neat, I wanna see," Tempus grinned and looked closely at her.  The sealed 
chamber filled with yellow gas, which was soon replaced by a thick, green 
liquid.  The Ryoko doll turned a dull gray, behind the green ooze.  Without 
delay, a large blue beam of energy shot down from the headset into the figure.  
Washu watched a floating monitor appear, and lifted a remote control.
"I was using this doll earlier to do a short experiment," Washu said, "but what 
would happen if this doll didn't exist."
"I know," Aeka rose her hand excitedly.
"What's that, Miss Aeka?" Washu asked.
"You would not have been able to put the doll into the glass chamber," Aeka 
said, professionally.
"Good job," Washu smiled, "but then what would happen to it?"
"It would vanish," Kai answered with a hand risen into the air.
"Close, but what actually occurs is quite different than what is expected."
Washu remote controlled the doll to leap into an incinerator, which was 
noticeable from the display.  Several seconds later, the monitor vanished and 
the entire subspace lab went silent.  Washu was speaking, but no one could hear 
her words, nor could she.  It appeared as though she'd mouthed the words, 
"Duh..."
She started motioning toward a piece of chalk she was holding.  Slowly, she 
released it from her hands.  The chunk of white chalk floated in the air, 
weightlessly.  With a sharp turn, the chalk pointed toward an opposing wall.  It 
flew quickly toward the wall, but as it passed Ryoko, she decided to capture it 
in her hand.  As she did, a burst of energy pulsed from her hand.  She looked 
within her hand and saw a chain.  The chain then started to become longer, and, 
as it hit the floor, it poured like a liquid toward Aeka.  Frightened, Aeka 
leapt from her chair.
"Washu!" Aeka yelled, "what's happening?"
"It's subconscious intervention," Washu smiled while she and Kai jotted a few 
notes down, "since the flow of time has become unconventional, the present is 
only accounted for by alpha patterning and psycho layer actions."
"I don't care what it is," Aeka yelled, "Just make it stop."
The water turned back into chains as it coiled itself around Aeka's legs and 
used itself to prevent her from moving.
"What's going on," Ryoko yelled as she tried to get the flow of chain away from 
herself, but to no avail, "Dammit, Washu!  Get it to stop!"
Seconds later, a rain of carrots starting pouring from above, and Ryo-ohki went 
wild.  The fuzzy, cat ship leapt into a pile of newly fallen orange tubers and 
let herself go.
"I knew it was a bad idea to let an anomaly occur in subspace," Washu thought, 
before issuing a verbal command, "Tempus, will you patch the reverberations in 
time-space for me?"
"Of course," Tempus said giddily before everything suddenly returned to the 
state it was in prior to Washu's little test.  Ryo-ohki flopped onto the floor 
three feet below her after all of her carrots vanished, and was burdened by a 
sorrowful face.
"Damn," Ryoko thought, "that was weird."
	The night came upon them.  Trees spoke in the wind and gave the earth an 
odd voice.  The Masaki household was tranquil, but a few of its inhabitants 
still whispered in the night.
"Do you think they'll be ok?" Sasami asked worriedly.
"Sure.  My signal traces that they'll be too fast to be noticeable from the 
war," Washu responded, reclining on Tenchi's bed with Sasami.
"What's going on?" Ryoko entered the small room.
"Well, my instruments detected the point where Mihoshi and Kiyone are," Washu 
said, "and we're talking about it."
"Hey," Ryoko said more quietly, "are we still up for..."
"Yeah," Sasami smiled and stroked Ryo-ohki's fur, "and Aeka will never know."
"Hee, hee," Washu giggled childishly.
"A-ha, ha, ha!" Ryoko shouted loudly.  Sasami joined in the laughter and they 
were soon shaking the walls with their intense laughter.
"Oh, hello," Aeka strolled into the room and asked politely, "What's so funny?"
The laughter came to an abrupt halt.
"How long have you been out there?" Ryoko grabbed Aeka's collar.
"I-I-I just arrived," Aeka took herself out of Ryoko's ensnarement and seated 
herself on the floor.
"So," Washu smiled and brandished an interesting little board game from her 
pocket, "who wants to play?"
"I'd love to play, but I'm tired.  I hope you guys have fun playing whatever it 
is," Sasami lifted herself from the bed and exited the room.
"How do you play?" Aeka grinned and asked inquisitively.
"Well, 'Truth or Dare' is a fun little game where you have to roll dice to move 
around the board," Washu began opening the game's box, "and when you land on a 
tile, you have to either take a 'truth' question or a 'dare' question from 
specified players."
"Sounds fun," Ryoko reached into the bag of pieces and pulled a cat-shaped 
figure for herself.  Washu tossed a metallic, crab figure onto the starting 
location, as Aeka placed a tree object there.
"Ok," Ryoko grinned, "who starts?"
	Several knocks came upon the door to the house.
"Who's there?" Grandpa asked.
"This is Dekai Shigeru," a voice came from outside, "is Akira there?"
"Sure, sure," Lord Katsuhito answered the door to find a tall man that appeared 
to be facially similar to Akira.
"Oh, hello," Shigeru smiled, "I'm the brother of Akira.  She's been missing for 
a while, and I've returned to see how she's doing."
"Ok, well," Grandpa led him outward, "I'll take you to meet her."
Just as Grandpa entered the main room, Akira showed up as well.  A face of utter 
delight came upon Akira as her eyes reached her brother's, "Shi-Shi-Shigeru, 
brother, you've returned!"
"Akira, it's been so long," Shigeru embraced his sister and thanked Grandfather, 
again.
"Brother, what is it that you wish?" Akira asked.
"If it would be no problem for you, I'd like to take you back home," Shigeru 
smiled at her.
"Is mother asking of me?"
"Yes, I am parked outside, and I can take you back now, unless you want to 
stay."
"Lord Katsuhito, it's been wonderful, thank you for taking me into your home-
thank you," Akira addressed Grandpa.
"My pleasure, Akira.  If your mother wishes to see you again, then I can do 
nothing but agree," Grandfather kissed her cheek and motioned to send her on her 
way.  With that, Akira and her brother left the house, and walked toward their 
vehicle.  Staring out the door, Grandpa's jaw dropped to the ground below him, 
his eye twitched, and he mumbled unintelligibly.  Akira walked across diamonded 
metal planks into the breathing hull of a Juraian battle vessel and waved to 
Grandfather Masaki.  Within a few seconds, the craft lifted from the earth and 
bolted into the nighttime sky.
	"Ok, Ryoko," Aeka grinned evilly, "how far have you ever gotten with 
Tenchi?"
"We're married, Aeka," Ryoko blushed, "what do you think?"
"It is a perfectly reasonable question, Ryoko," Washu smirked, knowing the truth 
of the matter, due to her psychological connection with Ryoko, "just answer."
"Well," Ryoko bit her lower lip and twiddled her thumbs, "you see, Tenchi and I, 
we..."
"Out with it, demon!" Aeka demanded playfully.
"Tenchi, you see, he's a but shy, and..."
"Oh, I see," the crimson-eyed princess snickered, "Tenchi still not well-
accustomed to your style?"
"Shut up, Aeka," Ryoko growled, sparked electricity, and tossed the dice to 
Washu.  The pink-haired goddess tossed a seven.  Her crab-shaped piece floated 
across the board onto the "truth" tile.  On the tile, the words "Player nearest 
yourself" were written.
"That'd be me," Ryoko smiled and conjured a question within her thoughts.  She 
then pronounced it verbally, "How do you feel about Tenchi?"
"That's simple," Washu started, "I feel that he's a very strong and morally 
balanced person."
"Is that all you've thought about Tenchi?" Ryoko interrogated, "have you ever 
imagined nasty, dirty, disgusting things about him?"
"Er... um..." Washu stuttered, "one question per turn!"
Aeka picked up the dice and tossed them down onto the board, revealing a ten.  
Her piece slid across the tiles to one labeled "Dare" and "Player closest behind 
you."
"That's me, again," Ryoko shouted giddily.
"Your luck can't last forever, Ryoko," Washu growled.
"I dare you..." Ryoko's face twisted and contorted with the most evil look ever 
to be imagined, frightening Aeka to the core, "to show me what's in that box of 
yours."
"Absolutely not!" the Juraian demanded.
"Go ahead, Princess Aeka," Washu taunted, "show us."
"No, I just can't.  May I 'pass' for this one?" Aeka pleaded.
"You could, but you'd have to take two dice rolls backwards," Washu explained.
"Fine, that's what I'll do," Aeka stole the dice from the table and rolled an 
eleven and an eight, causing her metallic tree to float in retrograde across the 
board.  Ryoko seized the dice from the board and followed with a question, 
"Washu, what do you get when you reach the end first?"
"Well," Washu check the instructions, "you get to ask each opponent a 'truth' or 
'dare' question."
Currently, Ryoko was in the lead, Washu right behind her, and Aeka in the back.  
Aeka was leading the group a second ago, but not any longer.
"Here goes," Ryoko let the die fly onto the table and received a five, taking 
her piece to a tile marked, "Truth" and "Player nearest yourself".
Washu tittered, "Well, let me see..."
"Hurry it up," Ryoko shouted.
"Don't rush me," Washu thought for a few more seconds before asking, "who were 
you in love with before Tenchi?"
"Hmmm," Ryoko pondered, "a long time ago, back before you were captured, there 
was this boy... he was far younger than I was, but he was very cute.  
Eventually, he left and I didn't see him for a long time, until I became a space 
pirate.  While I was cruising, one day, from where I'd just devastated another 
colony in space, I saw a ship beside me.  I started talking to him, and found 
out that it was Tetsuya, the boy I'd known from so long ago."
"Tetsuya?" Washu remembered that name from somewhere, but wasn't sure where, 
"what did he look like?"
"He had platinum blonde hair and... I think, green eyes."
"Like his father's..." Washu considered in silence before continuing the game.  
The pink-haired, self-proclaimed "greatest scientist in the universe" lifted the 
dice from the table.  Before she threw them, an alarm sounded from a device 
mounted to her wrist.
"It's done!" Washu dropped the dice and hurried out of the room.
"What's done?" Aeka jumped up and followed Washu.
"Not so fast, Washu!" Ryoko chased after her mother.  Down the hall they ran, 
until scrambling down the steps to Washu's subspace lab.  The door to the lab 
phased into being and Aeka became overjoyed.
	"Here she is," Washu motioned toward the reconstructed Ryu-oh.
"Oh, welcome back, Washu," Kai spoke, "I helped speed along the restoration 
process for Ryu-oh, and I was going to help complete Tempus, but I might have 
messed it up, so I didn't."
"Thanks, Kai," Washu smiled.
"So, are we leaving tonight?" Aeka asked.
"I'm going with you guys, if we are leaving," Ryoko interjected.
"Me too, me too!" Washu exclaimed.
"You guys have fun," Kai spoke, "and don't get hurt."
"Will you work on Tempus while I'm gone?" Washu asked Kai.
"Do you want me to?"
"Sure, but don't screw it up!"
"Ok, I won't."
"Well," Aeka began, "I'm going to need to pack some things, wake up Sasami, and 
get Yosho before I set off."
"Ok, we'll have time to sleep on the way over," Washu started.  Aeka left the 
lab, along with Ryoko, who felt the need to pack some things as well.
"Ryoko, I'm not sure if the Juraian council will be all that pleased by your 
arrival," Aeka said to Ryoko as she passed her on the stairs.
"I'm no longer wanted by the Galaxy Police," Ryoko laughed, "they don't have 
anything on me."
"Yeah, just watch your back," Aeka walked into her room and gently nudged her 
little sister.
"Wha-what's going on?" Sasami whispered, drowsily.
"We're going back to Jurai," Aeka smiled, "get your things packed, and you can 
go back to sleep when we get on the ship."
Sasami yawned and smiled weakly, "We're going back?"
	"So, Kai," Washu addressed him, "aren't your friends back at the science 
lab looking for you?"
"Probably not," Kai responded, "they didn't accept my theories as true, and they 
basically thought of me as a quack."
"That's really sad," Washu apologized for Kai's colleagues' rudeness, "By the 
way... did you add anything to the Ryu-oh?"
"Actually, yes, I did.  I added a cloaking device that can last for up to one 
week for traveling through the war undetected."
"Thanks, again, Kai."
"You're welcome Washu... oh and Akira left, so we can't use her genetic layout 
any more."
"Oh, well, that happens, you just keep care."
	Aeka and Sasami busily packed their things.  Aeka tossed in some extra 
clothing, and a few books she had been reading into her suitcase.
"Aeka?" Sasami directed.
"Yes, little Sasami?" Aeka replied.
"How did you get your things back from Ryu-oh?"
"Azaka and Kamidake were storing most of my favorite things for me.  They can 
store quite a lot of things.  Luckily, I had them around when I decided to flee 
from Jurai, else I'd have come here without anything."
Aeka made sure Sasami wasn't watching when she tossed her secretive black box 
into the suitcase.  After packing the last of her very few things she still had 
from Jurai, Aeka walked back downstairs to get Yosho.
"Yosho..." Aeka called for him, but he wasn't in the house.
"Yosho," she continued calling as she walked outside.
"He's probably up at the shrine," Ryoko startled Aeka, "we'll pick him up before 
we go."
Slowly, Ryu-oh descended into the forest affront Ryoko and Aeka.
"Jump in!" Washu's voice called from the ship.
"Yeah, come on in," Sasami's voice was heard as well.
"How'd you get in there before me?" Aeka yelled, baffled as to how this 
happened.
"Meow, meow, meow!" Ryo-ohki taunted as she pounced about the inside of Ryu-oh.
"Miss Aeka!" two familiar voice came from behind.
"Who is it, now?" Aeka asked.
"We insist you let us come along!" Azaka and Kamidake's wooden bodies hovered 
toward the ship.
"Ok, everyone who's coming along, just get the into the ship, so we can get the 
hell outta here!" Ryoko grumbled.
	Ryoko, Aeka, Azaka, and Kamidake entered the forest-like ship and dropped 
their things.
"Aeka," Azaka spoke, "should we be going now?"
"Yes, fly us to the shrine to pick up Yosho."
Ryu-oh glided noiselessly over to the hillside, where the shrine was.  There the 
impassive ship rested, as Aeka walked out, in her royal attire.
"Lord Katsuhito," she called into the shrine's office.
"Yes, Aeka?" his voice returned.
"We're heading back to Jurai, will you come along?"
"Aeka, you know I can't return," Yosho began, "I've broken the law there.  I was 
sent to earth because of bad decisions I made."
"We can clear your name, Yosho, just come with me, so we can see Father again, 
and you can see Mother Funaho."
"I will have to remain hidden, but I will come.  I just hope they are not 
angered by my presence."
"We will go to Father before we see anything else on Jurai, and we'll have time 
to explain."
"I hope your right, Aeka," Yosho walked toward Ryu-oh, and boarded, reluctantly.
"So," Ryoko began, "are we going to be picking up Tenchi?"
"Well, Ryoko," Grandpa answered, "he's working at his aunt's, so I would have to 
say 'no'."
"Oh, well, we could always come back for him later," Washu smiled as she engaged 
the cloaking device.
"Now we can get back to Jurai unseen... thanks Washu," Aeka started.
"Don't thank me, thank Kai," Washu stated before Azaka took control of the ship 
and propelled it into space.  Sasami was already asleep before they'd left the 
Earth.
"I'm getting some shut-eye," Washu curled into a ball on her mat, "I suggest you 
do the same."
"Good idea," Yosho smiled, finding a place to rest.
	"Lord Azusa," an underling called to his leader, "Tenchi has not yet 
called here.  Perhaps, he has already fallen asleep."
"Dammit," Azusa, king of Jurai, yelled, "we will have to wait until tomorrow."
	The night passed while Ryu-oh glided quickly toward her target.  Aeka 
awakened at what would be eight in the morning back on earth.  She yawned and 
checked their progress.
"I hope everything goes well back on Jurai," Aeka said to herself.
"I sense an entity moving at extremely high speeds," Kamidake spoke loudly.
"Why didn't we know about it before?" Aeka asked, startled by this read-out.
"I was trying to tell you guys, but you were fast asleep," Kamidake justified.
"What should we do?"
"Well, we can't slow down, and we can't speed up, we need all the energy we have 
left to land this thing."
"You didn't answer my question, Kamidake.  What should we do?"
"I suggest bracing yourself, Lady Aeka."
A floating screen appeared reading, "Twenty..."
"Tell me!  How can I stop this!" Aeka yelled.
"Nineteen..." flashed the projection.
"Help!  Someone stop this thing!"
"Eighteen..."
"Collision imminent," came Azaka's deep voice.
"Seventeen..."
"Washu, wake up!" Aeka bumped the scientist to awaken her.
"Sixteen..."
The goddess yawned, "Oh, Tenchi, that tickles."
"Fifteen..."
Aeka growled and shoved her harder.
"Fourteen..."
"What is it Aeka?" Washu groaned trying to fall back asleep.
"Thirteen..."
"We're going to crash!  Help!!" Aeka shouted at her.
"Twelve..."
Washu yawned and rose to her feet.
"Eleven"
"Help stop the ship!" Aeka yelled.
"Ten..."
"Oh, that's easy to do," Washu asked.
"Nine..."
"Then do it!" Aeka screamed, maniacally.
"Eight..."
"What are we crashing into?" Washu asked, unaware of the situation.
"Seven..."
"I don't know, just save us, Washu!" Aeka pleaded
"Six..."
Washu didn't respond.
"Five..."
"Washu!! Help!!" Aeka shrieked.
"Four..."
Washu still didn't respond.
"Three..."
"Help me, Washu... chan!" Aeka remembered what she had to call her.
"Two..."
"Ok, that's more like it," Washu giggled and walked to the console.
"One..."
"Now let's see, is it this one?" Washu tapped a small, red key.
	Suddenly, their ship stopped.  Another blaring beam of light soared across 
the starry darkness.  With an awesome flash of energy, the gliding ship collided 
with Ryu-oh, which, if stopped a split second earlier, would've been perfectly 
fine.  Shimmering with blue and red streaks of light, the explosion lit up the 
black field for almost a minute.  The contents of both vessels jostled around, 
and eventually fell back into place as the assemblage of these crafts became 
idle-drifting about space.
"I ...guess... not..." Washu's charred face fell onto the floor beneath the 
console.  Slowly, Sasami, Yosho, Ryoko, and Ryo-ohki rose from the ground and 
tried to keep their balance, while making all possible observations of the 
scene.  Aeka stood there and shuddered uncontrollably.
"Washu!!" she growled and grabbed the scientist by her collar.
"Aeka," Washu choked, "look!"
As the princess looked downward, she saw that a large hole was formed in the 
side of Ryu-oh.  The floor of Ryu-oh was tipped toward the hole which led into a 
ship appearing to be built of stone.  Aeka, in front, Ryoko to her left, Yosho 
to her right, and Washu, Sasami, and Ryo-ohki in back, all walked out of Ryu-oh.  
Slowly, they stepped onto the stone flooring of the alien ship.  As they all 
looked outward, they saw the charismatic fiend toss the weakened body of Kiyone 
through an ethereal, bubble-like wall, behind which were Mihoshi, Toshimi, and 
two Galaxy Police officers that they didn't know.  They appeared to be yelling 
loudly, but no noise penetrated the magical film that guarded their cell.
"What the hell is going on?!" Ryoko yelled to Kagato.
"W-Weren't you dead?" Aeka stuttered as she spoke.
"How insightful," Kagato chuckled, "you are correct.  I 'was' dead."
"What a joke," Yosho spoke as he altered his appearance into that of his younger 
form, "you're back for more?
"Yosho!" Aeka called, "Y-you're in the form I knew you as long ago."
"I've always been able to do this, Aeka," Yosho smiled to her with his 
unavoidable charm and finesse.
"You look great," Washu complimented him.
"Oh, stop flattering me."
"Eh, you look okay," Ryoko shrugged it off and produced a glowing orb.
"You look just wonderful, big brother," Sasami smiled.
"Ah, shucks," Yosho patted Sasami on the head.
"Meow, meow!" Ryo-ohki leapt up into his arms.
"Come now, I can't look that good."
"Oh, but you do," Aeka smiled, "but why didn't you show me before?"
"I don't know," Yosho started, "I guess I wanted you to give my Grandson a 
chance before coming back to me.  Basically, I set everything up so you could 
meet my boy Tenchi-giving him the key to release Ryoko and all that."
"You always were a wise one," Aeka laughed.
"Could we get on with this?!" Ryoko resounded, trying to gain their attention.
"I've always wanted to be a tactician," Yosho blushed.
"You'd make a good one," Washu commented.
"Is anyone listening to me?" Ryoko sadly asked.
"Anyway, I can't wait to get home," Yosho said, "I just want to clear things up 
with Father and Mother.  I'm sure they'll understand."
"Oh, definitely, and I'll stand up against the council with you on this one," 
Aeka said.
"And if things get too out-of-hand," Washu started, "I could always come up with 
an invention or two to fix it up."
"Yeah, hee, hee," Sasami chuckled.
"Hey, when we get back, do you guys want to join Tenchi at the hot spring inn?" 
Yosho stroked Ryo-ohki's fur.
"What do you mean, 'when you get back'?  You won't be getting back!!" Kagato 
yelled, and began laughing, "Mwa ha, ha!"
"Sure, I'll go," Aeka smiled, ignoring Kagato.
"Ha!  Ha!  Ha... ha..." Kagato noticed that he was being ignored, as a drop of 
sweat rolled down the back of his head "Ha... ha?"
"Ooh, that sounds like fun!" Ryoko let her orb of energy fall to the ground.  
Mihoshi stopped yelling for help and relaxed a bit.
"Do you mind?!" Kagato shouted angrily.
"Oh, sorry," Aeka returned to address Kagato.
"Aeka, Princess, I am going to need to use you," Kagato chuckled.
"Wh-What do you mean?!" Aeka stuttered as Kagato drew near.  Yosho leapt forward 
and created a blade.  By that time, Ryo-ohki made sure to jump safely to the 
stone-carved floor.
"Oh, my!  He looks so ravishing," Washu grinned.
"Aeka, watch out!" Sasami shouted.  As Yosho swung at Kagato, he leaped out of 
the way of Yosho's blade.
"Nice try," Kagato shouted, "but your years have left you weak and unable to 
fight."
"Strange," Washu glanced at her wrist-mounted device, "it seems Kagato is formed 
out of contramatter. That may explain why he has come back into existence."
Kagato left the ground and flew upward into the air, with Yosho chasing after 
him, deflecting shots with his shield.
"Kagato!" shouted Washu, "how did you come back to life?"
"It is because," Kagato stumbled with his words as he dodged a near-fatal strike 
by Yosho, "I am a demigod!"
"Demigod my ass!" shouted Ryoko as she launched a single energy spear toward 
Kagato, about forty feet away, "tell me the truth!"
"You are so ignorant," Kagato shouted, "if I told you, you would not 
understand."
Kagato dove toward Yosho, and penetrated his shield, sending the Juraian boy to 
the stone floor, below.
"Ow-wow-wow!" Yosho shouted trying to rise to his feet.  Before he could get up, 
Kagato sped toward Aeka.
"Help!" shouted Aeka.  Kagato's grasping fingers stopped in their place inches 
away from reaching the princess.
"You needed something, ma'am?" Azaka and Kamidake called in unison, generating a 
field of protection around Aeka.
"Thank you, Azaka, Kamidake," Aeka smiled and use a single hand to slap Kagato 
across the face, as he was frozen still.
"Ooh, that's got to hurt!" Yosho smiled from behind Kagato as he created a 
weapon.
"Princess," Kagato growled, "you fail to see the gravity of the situation."
With a blast of energy, Kagato launched Azaka, Kamidake, and Yosho away from 
himself, and immobilized Aeka.
"Let us see exactly what wicked thoughts travel throughout your mind," Kagato 
placed a single hand onto the center of Aeka's chest and closed his eyes.  Aeka 
screamed with horror.
"No, stop it," Sasami jumped toward them, but Washu stopped her.
"It's no use.  The energy is too strong," Washu sighed.
"Ah, I see," Kagato smiled as he used a telekinetic touch to float a sealed, 
black box out of Ryu-oh.  With a sudden flash, Aeka, Kagato, and the box flew 
through a wall at the opposite side of the large entry room.
"We'll have to go after them," Yosho addressed Ryoko.
"Right," Ryoko agreed and walked along side him.
"Wait for us," Kamidake explained.
"Now is time, Kamidake, we must save Aeka," Azaka said to his counterpart, as an 
intense light flowed from his wooden structure.
	Extreme blue light shone from Azaka, as a red light of the same power 
surged from Kamidake.  Slowly, the lights faded, revealing not the wooden 
statues that once existed, but two powerful, Juraian men.
"We are the guardians of Princess Aeka," the taller, older, blue-haired 
protector of Jurai spoke with the deep voice of Azaka.
"This is my true form," a younger, red-haired protector said.  Their eyes 
matched the color of their hair, which was ornamented in a truly unique Juraian 
way.
"We are the Guardians of Jurai," they spoke in unison.  The blue-haired one, 
Azaka, appeared to be very strong and forceful.  His red-haired ally, Kamidake, 
was more nimble and dexterous, but less powerful.
"We are going to help you save Aeka," Kamidake spoke, "there will most certainly 
be many toils along your way."
"I will be staying here," Washu interpolated, "to see if I can open this seal 
and save Mihoshi, Kiyone, Toshimi, and the other Galaxy Police officers."
"I think it'd be best if Sasami stayed back, as well," Yosho smiled, "you guys 
keep safe."
"No worries," Washu announced.
"Let's go," Kamidake straightened the blue, loop-shaped hairs on his head, "A 
few millennia in a wooden box will really do a number on your hair."
"Sheesh," Azaka grumbled and joined Kamidake, Ryoko, and Yosho as they walked 
into the next room, and undoubtedly, the first trap in a series of many that 
Kagato had planned out for them.
"Meow," Ryo-ohki pouted.
"I hope they come back safe," Washu sighed.
"I hope so, too," responded Sasami.






Preview of Next Episode::
Tenchi::
Hey, Tenchi Here.  While I'm wasting the hours away here on Earth, trying to 
revamp my aunt's hot springs inn for this business season, I can only hope that 
whatever those girls are up to won't get them into too much trouble.  Stay tuned 
for the next episode, and you won't be disappointed.
Ryoko::
Tenchi, it's lonely out here. I hope you can find a way to get out here to 
Jurai.
Aeka::
	I can't believe what happens to me.  It's so degrading.
Washu::
	Be ready for the exciting, intriguing, amazingly funny continuation of 
this chapter.  No, Mihoshi, don't touch that!!




(What has Fate (a.k.a. "me") chosen to bring to Tenchi and Co.?  What will come 
of this Kagato fellow?  What does this title have to do with the episode?  Why 
is Azusa being such a jerk to Tenchi?  What exactly will happen when, and if, 
they get to Jurai?  I might decide to answer a few of these, so sit around and, 
eventually, the next installment of the Tenchi Saga will be sitting affront your 
eyes, as you stare mindlessly at your computer screen.  I'd like your input, so 
e-mail me at frogboy@tokyo-3.com)

(Disclaimer:  All characters from the Tenchi Muyo series and movies are 
copyrighted to their respective companies, if not PioneerT than whomever they 
belong to.  My story's plot, new characters, etc. that are new and/or different 
than usual belong to me, David Boutwell.  It would be unlawful and pretty mean 
if you were to steal any of this story and claim it as your own.  I would like 
to hear the comments of anyone reading this story.  I probably won't make more 
until I find my potential readers.  I would also like your input on how to make 
the next episodes of the series.  I hope you enjoyed it.  If you think it 
sucked, then yell at me via my e-mail address, frogboy@tokyo-3.com.  Be prepared 
for many continuations of this series.  Thank you for taking time to read this.)